Hingis ends Stosur campaign

Former world number one Martina Hingis continued her fairytale return to grand slam tennis with a 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) victory over local hope Samantha Stosur in the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday night.

Hingis, who retired from tennis in 2002 with ankle and foot injuries after winning five grand slam titles, made her return to competitive tennis earlier this month at the Australian Hardcourt Championships on the Gold Coast.

Despite breezing through the first set against Stosur, Hingis was forced to fight hard for the victory in a competitive second set.

The Swiss will now face US Open champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old Hingis said Stosur was a worthy opponent.

"She's a great fighter, I knew it would be hard playing her, she has an amazing kick service," Hingis said.

"I started off well as I knew I'd have to be right up there from the start. We were both nervous, but I tried not to give her too much momentum."

Hingis put Stosur under intense pressure from the fourth game of the first set, holding two break points before establishing a 3-1 lead.

She raced away with the next three games to seal the first set in 23 minutes, slotting a backhand winner at set point.

The Swiss was successful with an astonishing 82 per cent of her first serves, allowing her to attack with groundstrokes and run the 98th-ranked Stosur all over the court.

Hingis ominously broke Stosur in the third game of the second set, but the Australian was not about to give in, setting up a crowd-pleasing run of games dominated by long rallies and neither player being able to hold serve.

Hingis broke to seize a 3-2 advantage, only for Stosur to draw level in the sixth game when she began to move Hingis around the court.

Momentum swung back and forth in game to game before Stosur broke to level the set at 6-6 and take the match to a tiebreaker.